Sunday, October 25, 2009

So, What Are You Reading These Days?

It has been a few weeks now since returning from the honeymoon to Italia, and only now do I feel like I am finally settling into a daily routine. The new job at the high school, while great, has also taken some time getting use to as well. But at some point during the past few days I began to feel comfortable, somewhat normal again.

One of the reasons for this is that I have once again started making time each day to sit back and just read. It has been a few months since I finished a book, but I am very excited to be working on a number of them currently. Of course, it's not like I haven't done any reading over the past few months. But with marriage preparation, lesson plans, a honeymoon, and pair of senior retreats, there just seemed not to be much free time. However, that has now changed...I think.

And I am very glad it has, because I have been able to start reading through two newly ordered books, which I have greatly enjoyed reading so far. The first book, which I am almost finished with, is Michael J. Gorman's Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology. Anyone who has read some of Gorman's other works will be familiar with the themes in this book. In particular, his analysis of kenosis in the Christ-hymn of Philippians 2, and its broader connections to the identity of the Triune God has made for some very interesting reading.

Along with Gorman's book, I have also been skimming through Scott Hahn's Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI. Hahn points out that many of the books written about Pope Benedict fail to capture his deep reliance on Scripture which is at the heart of his writings and teachings before and after his election to the See of Rome. The first part of Hahn's book spends considerable time discussing Pope Benedict's view of the historical-critical method. As Hahn points out, Pope Benedict sees the historical-critical method as being "an indispensable" tool for Biblical scholars. It is indispensable precisely because the Christian faith is based in history. Yet, while we must continue to use the historical-critical method in our exegesis of Biblical passages, we cannot separate it from the faith of the Church. Without faith, the text remains only a historical relic, which cannot be brought to the present. Ultimately, the Church is the guardian of the written Word. There is, of course, a lot more to this, but I have found this book to be a wonderful summary of Pope Benedict's Biblical theology.

One last book that I have picked up, but have yet to start, is Scott Hahn's reworked doctoral thesis Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God's Saving Promises. This is one of those books that is over 600 pages long, with half of it being end notes. Fun stuff! No....I really mean it! I hope to start this in the next week or so.

So what are you reading these days? Any new releases that I should check out?

9 comments:

  1. That's too heavy for me man....but I'm reading Be A Man by Fr. Larry Richards....published by Ignatius.

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  2. Keith,

    How is it? I have heard Fr. Larry speak on a number of occasions. I always appreciate his passion and sense of humor.

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  3. It's a lot like his in person presentations...same stories I've heard before. It's designed to give men a series of things they can do...tasks to complete to get to know Jesus personally. It would be a great book for a men's fellowship group to go through.

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  4. I am reading, 'Understanding The New Testament And Its Message' along with re-reading the New Testament in the order as it is treated in Vincent P. Branick's book. Since I lead a Bible Study Class and help teach RCIA, I have to keep the skills up. I have several other books lined up to read, but have not decided which one.

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  5. Hey Tim, this is Paolo, glad to hear you're settling into things. I myself started a new job as a youth and family caseworker with the juvenile Court. My office is in Troy, at about 14 and crooks. Maybe we could grab lunch sometime.

    Recently I decided I wanted to read as many of the top 100 books of "all time", books that I was supposed to have read in high school and the like. I read "Seize the Day" by Saul Bellow and currently I'm reading "Rabbit Run" by John Updike.

    On the religious side of things, I still have yet to finish "Jesus of Nazareth" by the Pope; however I was greatly moved by the first section in which he identifies Jesus as the one who sees God face to face...

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  6. Since you like things to do with Catholic Bibles, I have been reading with pleasure Father Nicholas King's translation of the New Testament. Not many people get kudos from Rowan Willians and Henry Wansbrough! The translation is very good and the study aids really do help with the understanding and application of Scripture.

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  7. I just got Scott Hahn's 'Catholic Bible Dictionary' so I'm enjoying skimming through that and will probably write about it on one of my blogs. I'm trying to re-pick up B16's 'Jesus of Nazareth' but it is such a challenging book to read all the way through, I have trouble staying with it, even though I'm thoroughly enjoying it when I can.

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  8. Oh, and I'm also reading "Pathways in Scripture," by Damasus Winzen, sort an allegorical look at the Bible book by book.

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  9. I am just starting "Ratzinger's Faith- The Theology of Pope Benedict's Faith" by Tracey Rowland...might be a good follow up to Hahn's work.
    Here is one review-
    http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?ID=401
    As a busy mum with young ones I will have to take this in small bites but it really looks like an important and helpful book.

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